Tempio di San Giovanni al Sepolcro

It rose at the height of the Norman age, when Brindisi was a harbour pulsing with merchants, pilgrims and soldiers, from which, in 1096, Bohemond of Hauteville set sail for the Holy Land. The basilica later belonged to the canons of the Holy Sepulchre and was built as a round chapel: a deliberate form, an imitation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. For those who could not reach the Holy Land, it was a way to touch something sacred and familiar.

The circular plan is very rare in Apulia, almost unique. The inner columns form a concentric embrace and the capitals, some reused from Roman times, tell of a city that recycled its own history by layering it. The portal is adorned with figures carved in the sturdy restraint of Apulian Romanesque, while inside survive traces of medieval frescoes: faded colours that once lit the walls in gold and red.